


To fall in love

by lorellamoon



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chloé and Nathanaël is a logical ship, F/M, Nathanaël is a Torrington, atteot to break up a couple, idiots falling in love, idk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-06-10 03:43:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6938320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lorellamoon/pseuds/lorellamoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Recently Marinette and Adrien have been getting closer and friendlier something neither Chloé nor Nathanaël want that to happen.</p><p>Nathanaël has let himself get used to the idea that he will never be able to get with Marinette. Then Chloé comes along and hatches a plan. A plan where they both get their crush on the end. Reluctantly he teams up with her.</p><p>What neither expected was to fall in love with each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Plan

Chloé Bourgeois angrily clicked her nails against the desk, the sound echoing through the the empty room. Her face was twisted into a grimace and she was glaring daggers at one particular person. Her arch nemesis, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

It was lunch hour and the baker's daughter had decided to get cosy with her Adrikins! It was simply unforgivable. It sickened the blonde to see the raven haired brat pretending to act all sweet and innocent and caring. But Chloé saw through her ridiculous façade. She knew Marinette was only taking advantage of Adrian and she wouldn't let that happen. 

He belonged to her!

She let out a sigh a peered out the window again. Stupid Marinette was showing something on her phone, blushing like a ridiculous little school girl. And her poor Adrikins, acting all sweet, pretending to care. But Chloe knew the truth, he was just being nice, which made him all more perfect in her eyes. Her perfect prince, who would stoop so low as to spare the feelings of Marinette. How nice and patient he was!

"I need to stop her," she said out loud, not caring that she was alone as her voice bounced off the walls, causing a pleasant echo. She had always liked the sound of her own voice. It was soothing. She frowned and tapped the desk irritably. She was straying from the matter at hand. A plan, she needed some kind of plan to get that peasant away from Adrikins.

Plans had never been her strong suit, it was usually Sabrina that thought them up.

Forget that traitor, Chloé thought to her self, angrily pushing any thought about Sabrina away. The red headed brat had transferred schools and that had been the end of their 'friendship'.

"I have better friends now!" She had said, leaving no Chloé all on her own. Not that she particularly cared. No, she was better on her own. Well at least that was what she told herself. She didn't need friends anyways, they were a waste of time. She had her Adrikins and that was it. She could role play Ladybug on her own and hire anyone to do her homework. It didn't matter in the end.

Chloé worked diligently, trying to come up with some kind of plan that would work. Her mind was blank though, she couldn't think of anything. She spent the rest of the lunch period trying come up with a plan but in the end, she couldn't. The bell rang and she was tapping her manicured nails on the desk, harshly now. She was frustrated at her self for being so useless, not to mention she had chipped a nail. She'd have to make an appointment later.

The teacher arrived and students began to follow soon after. She had nothing. She resisted the urge to hit the desk. It would be childish and unbefitting of someone like her. Still, she couldn't help but grit her teeth at the sight of Marinette entering the room. The pigtailed girl was chattering away happily to her superhero obsessed friend. The only thing that made Alya worth her time was the Ladyblog. Other than that she was useless.

"It was amazing Alya! We played a game together on my phone and I barely stuttered!" She said and Chloé glared at her fiercely. Marinette was so high up on cloud nine that she didn't even notice. 

Just you wait, Chloé thought. I'll tear you away from my Adrikins no matter what it takes!

It was an annoying five minutes, as the rest of the students walked in. The bell rang again to signal the start of class and the teacher started calling attendance. Chloé distractedly raised her hand when her name was called. It was halfway through the list that an idea came bursting through the door. Quite literally.

Nathanaël, the red headed boy in her class that did nothing but daydream and draw. Who had a ridiculously huge crush on Marinette. She smirked as she began to formulate a plan inside her head. Now she was getting somewhere.

______

 

Nathanaël Torrington was hopelessly in love. Well perhaps that might have been an over exaggeration; after all he was still a teen with most of his life ahead of him. Regardless, he had a crush on the prettiest girl to have ever walked the planet. Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

She was just perfect, from her shiny, dark, silky hair to her deep blue eyes always filled with kindness and passion. Her fair complexion, exalted by the peppering of light freckles all over her face. Sometimes he questioned whether she was a goddess walking among them. She could certainly be, with all that grace and beauty.

He sighed and looked down to his sketchbook, where he had drawn, quite literally as a goddess, dressed in a chiffon and a circlet upon her head. He smiled softly. A goddess, an unachievable love. Perhaps he would be destined to only admire her from afar.

He let out another sigh as he looked at her from where she was sitting, talking, blushing, and giggling with her crush, super model Adrien Agreste. There was no way her could ever compete with him. He was perfect, and Nathanaël had to admit, they made an adorable couple. 

Still, he couldn't help the bitter pang of jealousy that hit him when he saw them together. When he realized he could never have that. He would never make her smile and laugh like, he'd never be the center of her universe. It hurt so much.

He closed his sketchbook with a light thud and looked at his uneaten lunch. He was hardly in the mood to eat. He put away his sketchbook and repackaged his lunch. Then he let his gaze wander, trying to distract himself. Eventually he found himself staring at one particular classroom, his gaze landing on a familiar blonde with ice cold eyes. Chloé Bourgeois.

Chloé, he didn't like her very much, she was rude, mean, and Marinette's bully for most of their younger years. She had also occasionally take a jab at him too. Still, he found it disconcerting that she was sitting up there all alone with no one to keep her company.

No one had spoken about it when it happened, even though a lot of people had been there to witness it. The way Sabrina brashly threw away her friendship with Chloé. She might have been mean, but she didn't deserve that, so as an unanimous decision, brought out by Rose, the topic would simply be ignored and Sabrina wouldn't be spoken of. So far it had lasted, with the exception of a rather rude comment Alya made that had Chloé responding refusing her access to an Akuma attack area later that day.

Still Chloé was still the same, though it was obvious her pride, and perhaps even her feelings had taken a hit because of that incident. 

The girl, he knew was in a similar situation to him. She obviously liked Adrien and was way more forward about it than he could ever be. It scared him a bit that he was comparing their situations. In the end though, he couldn't help but feel that they were in the same situation. Unrequited love and loneliness.

He was so busy wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn't hear the first bell and almost missed the second bell.

He was late for class!

Nathanaël grabbed his back and started running inside. The last thing he needed was another detention for being late again.

He burst in through the door, stopping to catch his breath for a second before realizing everyone's eyes were on him. He mumbled an apology and looked down, trying to hide his face. He quickly walked to his seat in the back and sat down, pulling out his class books along with his sketch book.

The class went by with no incident and soon after the bell rang to signal class change. Nathanaël stood up and put away everything. He slung his bag over his shoulder and pulled out his schedule to see what class he had next. It was then, during his awkward walk while looking at his schedule. He was so distracted, he didn't notice when someone came up behind him and pulled him into an empty classroom.

"Wha-"

"Shut up you idiot!" 

"Chloé?" He said, surprised. She rolled her eyes.

"Who else!" She said. Nathanaël stared at her.

"So uhm, did you need anything? Other wise I should be going, class and all that."

"Obviously I need something! Other wise I wouldn't even be talking to you," she said, crossing her arms. Nathanaël really wanted to leave.

"So....what is it?" He asked.

"Well it's pretty obvious you have a crush on Marinette, who keeps clinging over my Adrikins. It's nothing complicated. All I need is you to help me keep her away."

"What! No!" Nathanaël exclaimed.

"First of all, shut up you idiot, not so loud!" Chloé hissed. Nathanaël unconsciously took a step back.

"And I mean I don't get why you're so opposed to it. All you have to do is get Marinette to forget about Adrien. It's not like he actually likes her," the blonde pointed out and he had I admit she had a point. He faltered. 

"Think about it," she said. "Tell me your answer tomorrow, but really, in the end we all end up winning."

And then she was gone, leaving Nathanaël with thousands of thoughts running through his head.


	2. Accepting

School had come to an end for the day, and as usual, Nathanaël found himself waiting by the front entrance to be picked up. He absentmindedly tapped his foot against the pavement and watched as Chloé ride away in her fancy limousine. He was still thinking about her offer earlier.

His instinct was to deny her, and avoid any association with her. The more he thought about it though, the more he became convinced that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. Sure, it was somewhat stupid and cliché, but in the end the worse that could happen was the undying hatred from Marinette. It'd be better than being ignored.

Nathanaël sighed. Something told him he didn't quite have his priorities straight. 

A sudden car honk shattered his train a thoughts and from a familiar dark blue Chevrolet a head full of blonde hair and teal eyes looked out, annoyed.

"Oi brat! I don't got all day!"

"I-oh sorry Leo," Nathanaël said, opening the passenger door and climbing in. Leo mumbled something incomprehensible and started driving.

Leo was his older half-brother, one he had never gotten along with. It probably had to do with the fact that the elder blonde thought it was his fault their parents were always fighting. Regardless, due to the fighting at home escalating and a whole problem including court trials for custody, Nathanaël had pretty much begged Leo to him stay with him. He was still surprised his brother had actually agreed. 

"Why are you so moody today?" Leo asked him. Nathanaël scowled.

"I'm not moody," he said, glancing out the window. It looked as if there were a storm coming. He let himself relax a bit. He liked storms.

"Yeah, and I'm the Russian Tsar," Leo said sarcastically. "You're usually all daydreaming and stuff, today you just stare at your shoes as if they'd done something unforgivable," he pointed out. Nathanaël rolled his eyes.

"It's nothing." 

"Still don't believe you kid. What? Does I have something to do with your Belladonna?" Leo asked, speaking in their mothers tongue. A dark look flashed through their eyes. They really didn't like their mother much.

"Nope, not at all," Nathanaël said, hoping he sounded convincing. He didn't

"I'll take that as a yes then," Leo said with a smirk. "What, did she finally get with her Prince Charming?"

"No, just Chloé Bourgeois who wants to get us together."

"The Mayor's daughter wants to help you get together with pretty much the love of your life?" Leo asked. "How'd you get into the spitifire's good graces?"

"She just wants Marinette out of the way because Chloé also likes Adrien." He commented 

"Just don't make too much of a mess," Leo said after a few moments of silence. With Chloé, he thought, how could there not be a mess.

"Yeah, yeah" he said. Then the car came to a halt and they were home.

Nathanaël went straight to his room when he got home and collapsed onto his bed. His phone was lying besides him, silently urging him to make a decision. He felt really pressured. Chloé tended to have that effect on people.

He sighed and picked up his phone before dialing a number that everyone in their class had but never used. Chloé's phone number.

______

The first thing Chloé did when she got home was open up her large rpg table, custom made just for her, with a replica of the city and action figure toys of every single Akuma, Hawkmoth, Ladybug, and Chat Noir. Their was also two other dolls, one of Chloé as a superhero, and one of Sabrina which she had thrown into the hotel's incinerator a few weeks prior.

She halfheartedly played her them, feeling somewhat alone. Usually Chloé had Sabrina to help her come up with fun scenarios and story ideas. 

"Ugh, whatever" she said and walked over to her bed. She grabbed her laptop and began searching the Ladyblog for any new content. Surely watching her favorite heroine in action would put her in a better mood. 

She called her butler on the service phone and asked him to bring her some snacks before comfortably browsing through videos and blog posts. She was so entertained that she almost didn't hear the phone ring. It actually rang four times before she actually realized it was ringing and picked up. It was an unknowns number.

"Whoever you are, you better have a good excuse for interrupting me!" She barked angrily into the phone.

"It's, it's me Nathanaël," the voice on the other side said and Chloé let her attitude soften a bit.

"Nathanaël? Oh, did you think about my offer?" She asked sweetly, pausing the video she was watching. Her voiced oozed confidence and relaxation, but in reality she was really tense.

"Uhm, yeah kinda," he answered. Chloé resisted the urge to yell at him to be less ambiguous.

"So, what will it be?" She asked him instead. He seemed to hesitate for a moment.

"Yes, I'll help you."

"Good!" She crooned. "I knew you would see reason-"

"-as long as nobody gets hurt that is," he continued saying, interrupting her. She pressed her lips into a thin line and avoided lashing out. The last thing she needed was to scare him off.

"Of course," she said. "The last thing I would ever dream of doing is hurting my dear Adrikins... Or that Marinette girl," she added, albeit reluctantly. Nathanaël seemed content with that answer.

"Okay then," he said awkwardly. Chloé smirked. This would be too easy.

"Okay then, meet me tomorrow by the arcade. Adrien and Nino are supposed to go hangout with Marinette and Alya, got it?"

"Yes," he said. Chloé nodded her head.

"Okay, then see you there," and then she hung up.

She laid back and grinned. Soon Marinette would be out of the way and her Adrien would be all hers.

_______

Nathanaël sighed as Chloé hung up. He put down his phone and rolled over to look at his crawling which had recently been painted a dark blue. He had no idea what he was getting into.

Chloé could be childish and brash sometimes, and he had a feeling this wasn't any exception. 

He just hoped things didn't blow up.I'm


	3. Shut up Chloé

Chloé waited impatiently by the arcade, tapping her foot like the petulant child she was. Nathanaël was five minutes late and had neglected to answer his phone, much to her irritation. If he had bailed on her, god help him she would-

"Hey Chloé!" She snapped her head in the direction of the voice that had called her name. Nathanaël, looking frazzled, half asleep, and wearing something that didn't look like he had blindly stepped into a thrift store and picked whatever he touched first. It was an improvement, she had to admit. Dark gray skinny jeans, some sneaker and a teal band shirt that matched his eyes. He had a long sleeve t-shirt underneath.

"Your hair looks like it's a nesting home to rats." She greeted him flatly. She was still annoyed at having to wait five whole minutes for him. Had he not heard of being punctual! Although she had to admit with his attendance record at school, it was to be expected.

"And a good day to you too Chloé," he mumbled under his breath. Something told her she hadn't been meant to hear that, but regardless she had, and it will only served to add to her irritation.

"Whatever, you're late. Make sure it doesn't happen again," she snapped at him glaring straight into his real colored eyes. There was defiance and awkwardness in them at the same time. Like he wanted to speak against her but wasn't quite sure how to do. She rolled her eyes. As long as he didn't do it, she didn't care.

"Well come on, fix your hair and let's get to it! I don't want to spend more time in there than I have to," she said though the last part was more of an after thought. The arcade was small, dark, had dust and looked ridiculously grimy. She felt icky just looking at it.

Nathanaël used the rear mirror of some dingy only car as he flatted his scattered hair. Once it was presentable enough, he nodded. 

"Kay, I'm ready."

"About time," she said. "Okay so for now the plan is relatively simple. You go in and distract Marinette and I distract Adrien. Do so for long enough and do it properly and they'll eventually forget about the other."

Nathanaël nodded.

"Good," she said. "And don't forget, don't mess this up, got it!"

"Got it," he said. 

Chloé smiled condescendingly. Things were going well so far.

_______

The last place Adrien Agreste had ever expected to see Chloé was at the local arcade. 

It was a nice place, with a sort of homey feel to it, small and light up only by the machines. Still, he just didn't see it as a place that Chloé, who was dressed in pastel pinks instead of her usual yellow, would ever willingly step foot it. Because of that reasoning, when she bounced over to him greeting him with the usual high pitched "Adrikins!" He had stood there shocked for a few seconds.

"C-Chloé?" He half stuttered out, half from surprise and half because her bone crushing hug was cutting off his circulation.

"I didn't expect to see you hear!" She said with a smile. 

"Yeah right," Alya mumbled from the side and Adrien tried not to make his discontent too obvious. Chloé might have been manipulative and insufferable at times, but she was still a dear friend and don't don't like it when people verbally attacked her or spoke against her, no matter how much the blonde deserved it. 

"I could say the same to you, this doesn't quite seem like your kind of place." he said with a smile, ignoring Alya's obvious discomfort. At least Marinette was feigning ignorance and busying with a game off to the side, even if she quite obviously did not get along with Chloé. It was a nice effort on her part that he greatly appreciated.

Chloé shrugged and looked down, somewhat sadly.

"Well with the whole Sabrina being a traitor and whatnot, I've really had not much to do," she said sadly and he found himself placing a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "I thought maybe I could check out this place and see what all the fuss is about." 

"So how are you liking it?" He asked her. Alya had sulked off to rant to Nino about something and Marinette had struck up a conversation with Nathanaël who also appeared to be here. At least he didn't have to worry about leaving her alone, she had some company. Still, he couldn't help but wish he were with Marinette. Leaving Chloé in this state with the problems she had lately wouldn't be very nice.

"It's not very fun," she admitted nonchalantly. "I'm awful at all the games."

"Why don't I teach you?" He offered. Chloé's eyes lit up happily cause him to smile at the blondes contentment. It was worth it to see his childhood friend happy. She gave him another bone crushing hug.

"Aww thanks Adrikins! I'd really like that!" She said.

"Okay the let's go!" He said, laughing lightly. Still he couldn't help glance over at where Marinette and Nathanaël were talking.

_____

When Chloé walked off to make her move, Nathanaël waited a few seconds until Adrien was thoroughly distracted, fooled by whatever grand story of manipulation she had cooked up. Sometimes he wondered why the young model went along with Chloé. He had hear that they were childhood friends but were they really that good friends?

"Unbearable isn't it?" He asked Marinette as he approached her, signaling to the clingy blonde. It took all his will power to try and talk to her with a straight face and then try not to act so shy as he was used to. Chloé would skewer him alive if he runs bed everything by his inability to talk to the pigtailed girl. 

Marinette sighed and rolled her eyes. "Completely," she said, then looked over to him. 

"Oh hey Nathanaël. What's up? Didn't think you'd be into the whole video games thing," she said. He smiled nervously.

"Not very good at them but I do enjoy them once in a while. Had nothing better to do," he said. She smiled at him.

"Well you don't have to be good at games to enjoy them," she pointed out.

"Well that definitely seems to be the case with Chloé," he said. It was common knowledge that Chloé was awful at video games. Marinette's expression darkened.

"Apparently," she mumbled. "You know, I really don't understand what her deal is."

"She's Chloé," he told Marinette. Trying to understand her is like trying to understand rocket science. It's not worth anyone's time. I mean her idea of a greeting when I saw her earlier was saying that my hair looked like a rats nest."

Marinette giggled, and warm feeling spread through Nathanaël. He was doing it, he was talking to Marinette and she didn't look like she'd rather be somewhere else. He smiled to himself. The irony was that they were bonding over their dislike of Chloé. 

"Well I think your hair looks fine," Marinette said sincerely and he smiled at the compliment. 

"Thanks. So are you busy or wanna play some games?" He asked. They both looked at Chloé and Adrien who were currently walking away.

"Sure, why not?" She said. Nathanaël considered that things were gonna be smoothly. 

______

It had been going well enough. Chloé had gotten Adrien away from Marinette and they had been playing video games. Admittedly she was bad at them, but as long as she was with her Adrikins, everything was fine.

Then some stupid girl she didn't even know tried to flirt with him.

"You couldn't hold your tongue for a few minutes could you?" Nathanaël asked flatly. Chloé scowled at him.

"Shut up," she mumbled as they watched the Akuma wreck the arcade. The majority of the people had long evacuated.

"You know what, let's go hide out in a library," he said tiredly. "No ones gonna find you there."

She reluctantly followed.


	4. Repressed memories

Chloé sipped her latte and stared at Nathanaël who seemed to be purposely ignoring her gaze. She frowned. How dare he ignore her like that! Regardless, she wasn't in the mood to argue or cause much problem right now. The whole Akuma incident still had her a bit dis motivated. Her plan that had originally been going well had failed epically. She wouldn't be surprised if that's why Nathanaël was ignoring her. God, was she really that useless without Sabrina? 

She groaned, looking at the redhead argue with the cashier about his change. Apparently he had given the incorrect amount or something. It didn't matter, not to her. She had better things to do. Still she couldn't find the strength to get up and leave the nice looking cafe slash bookstore. She was both mentally and physically exhausted.

Instead she opted to sit there and rhythmically tap her nails against the table, waiting for Nathanaël. From what she could see, the cashier was loosing the case of the stolen change. Nathanaël had called out the manager. God, why did people make such a big deal about several euros?

"I'm back," Nathanaël said, approaching the table with two slices of cheesecake.

"What, finally got tired of asking for your change back?" She asked. He shook his head.

"No, I got it back along with two free slices of cheesecake for my troubles." He said, pushing one of the plates right in front of her. She took the fork and poked it a few times before hesitantly taking a bite. She smiled.

"Hmm not bad." She said. It had the soft and spicy taste of cinnamon and raspberry. She made a mental note to remember this place, it was pretty decent.

"I dunno, it's kinda spicy tasting," he said between bites.

"Duh," she told him with a roll of her eyes. "It's called cinnamon, that's the point."

"C-cinnamon?" He stuttered. Was it Chloé or did he look a bit pale?

"Uhm yeah?" She said. Did he not like it or something?

"I'm screwed, so screwed," he started to say, much to Chloé's confusion. He was searching around his pockets. His face was very pale by now and it was starting to get splotchy. She had a feeling something was wrong and decided not to feign ignorance as usual. 

"Are you okay?" She asked him, letting her fork drop.

"Do I l-look okay!" He gals stuttered, his voice weak and raspy. He was definitely not okay.

"What's wrong?" She asked half annoyed. She showed concern and he brushed her off like it was nothing.

"Allergy, cinnamon, forgot EpiPen," he gasped out, not bad the ring with full sentences. Chloé bolted up.

"You idiot! Couldn't you say that in the first place!" 

She pulled out her phone and told her chauffeur to get here immediately. She then pulled Nathanaël up, much to his surprise and half dragged, half carried him outside. He was really looking bad now. 

"C'mom, hold up," she said, ignoring the memories that threatened to resurface. Now was not the time for useless flashbacks. "Can you still breathe?" She asked. He gave a weak nod. Her chauffeur arrived and she quickly pushed him in. 

"Take us to St. Margaret's!" She commanded the chauffeur. "Make it as fast as possible!" And he did. The were there in five minutes. St. I love Margaret's was a private hospital so as soon as she stumbled into the emergency room with Nathanaël in tow, there were many staff members who suddenly came out to out to assist her.

"What happened?" A stiff looking doctor asked her.

"Allergic reaction to cinnamon." She was said she answered. He nodded and walked into away. She slumped down onto a hospital chair. A allergic reaction. A goddamn allergic reaction! It had to be that of all things. With a sigh she pulled out her cellphone and tried to repress the memories that she had done so well repressing.

____

Nathanaël groaned as light hit his face and tried to roll over. The only problem with this was that there was something on his face that didn't allow him to. He frowned and forced his eyes open. 

The first thing he saw was a heart monitor. 

He quickly sat and realized that he was indeed in a hospital. A very fancy looking hospital to be exact. The he remembered eating a cheesecake. With cinnamon. He groaned.

To be honest he hadn't had cinnamon since his second allergic reaction when he was four. That probably explained why he hadn't recognized the taste. Of course with that figured out, the what had blocked him from moving was an oxygen mask. Just how far did the allergy get.

"And he lives!" Leo exclaimed, opening the door with two cups. One had the cinnamon mango smoothie logo so it probably wasn't for him. Leo handed him the white nondescript cup. It was hot chocolate.

"Yeah yeah," Nathanaël muttered, removing the oxygen mask and taking a sip of his hot chocolate. He sighed in relief as the warm liquid soothed his sore throat.

"So what did the doctor say?" He asked. Leo sighed and sat down.

"Well you're gonna be staying for at least two days here for observation," he explained. Nathanaël frowned.

"That bad?"

"Nath, your heart stopped. They had to shock your heart to get it beating again. If that girl, Chloé, hadn't gotten you here as fast as she did, you would have died," he said seriously. Upon closer inspection Nathanaël realized his eyes were swollen. Leo had been crying.

"Do mom and dad know?" He asked. Leo shook his head. 

"Didn't tell them. Didn't even occur to me." Nathanaël shrugged. It would be for the best.

_________

"Hey Adrien!" Chloé called out to the blonde model who was chatting outside with Nino. The one day she needed to find Marinette and she wasn't with her Adrikins.

"Hey Chlo!" He said, greeting her with one of his stellar smiles.

"Hi! Have you seen Marinette?" She asked. Adrien and Nino gave her a puzzled look. 

"Uhm yeah she and Alya are supposed to meet us here in the few minutes." Adrien informed her. 

Just as if summoned, she and Alya came walking down the stairs besides them before they could even get a word out she walked over to Marinette.

"So, not that I care about what either of you do," she said, "but Nathanaël is in the hospital and stuff and died for a few minutes yesterday, so I figured he'd be happy to see you."

"What?" Marinette asked. Alya frowned. 

"That's a ridiculous as stories get," she said and Chloé just sighed. She didn't even have the energy to argue back.

"I'm not lying you third rate blogger, apparently he's allergic to Cinnamon or whatever and the idiot don't don't have his EpiPen. I had to drag him half dead to the hospital." She said. To be honest she was doing this for Nathanaël, being nice for once.

"Anyways, he's at St. Margaret's. I'm just telling you because his friend list isn't that big and it probably do him some good. 

She walked away and ignored the text from Adrien, according to the ring tone. The last thing she wanted to do was talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Just wanted to say thanks for all the positive reviews and all the kudos! :3
> 
> Lots of love, LM


	5. Caring

Adrien glanced at the sky, a dark blue peppered with the brilliance of an infinite amount of stars. Not that he noticed them today. He had way too much on his mind at the moment to even consider stopping to look at the stars. 

A few feet away Ladybug looked over the edge of the building and around the area. Not that there was much to look at. It was a ridiculously calm night. They hadn't even been privy to the usual cat and dog fights that usually occurred around this hour. 

"Hey Chat, what's up with you tonight?" Ladybug asked him, noticing his pensive state. Chat sighed but put on a cheerful smile.

"Oh nothing much My Lady!" He said. "Just small issues with my boring civilian life."

Ladybug gave him a good hard look before sighing. 

"If you say so," she said. "If you're really in trouble or need anything you'll tell me right?" She asked. Adrien smiled brightly. He knew Ladybug was really obsessed with keeping her identity a secret and that they would perhaps never have a chance to be together despite his hopes. To hear her worry and offer her help like this made him happy that he could at least be her close friend.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. Ladybug patted him on the shoulder.

"It's nothing." She said with a smile. Adrien could swear that he fell in love with her every time he saw that smile. Beautiful and sincere.

Eventually their patrol ended and with a reluctant goodbye on his part, and he made his way back to his room. Quietly he shut his window and walked over to his bed, where he colapsed. He sighed.

Chloé had refused to answer any of his texts these last two days. She hadn't shown up at school, something rare for her despite her dislike of learning. There were even a few rumors going around stating that she had probably poisoned Nathanaël and was skipping because the police was questioning her, as ridiculous as that sounded.

He sighed. 

Chloé was going through a hard time right now. He could only hope she'd be okay.

______

Chloé sighed as the door to her room opened and sat up on her bed, shaking her head as a strand of honey blond hair got in her face. The room was completely dark, only lit up by the decorative lamps around.

"What is it?" She asked coldly as her daddy walked into the room.

"Sweetie," he began and Chloé groaned internally. She really didn't need this right now.

"I'm fine daddy!" She said  
And buried herself under the covers again. She heard him sigh.

"Chloé, you've locked yourself in your room. You've barely eaten and you haven't gone to school in days. I know the accident is affecting you, but if you want to talk about it-"

"I don't, I'm fine!" She said. Her father sighed again. She heard the closing of a door and looked. She sighed in relief. He was gone. 

Chloé usually didn't have a problem with it because she generally blocked out the memory. She didn't like remembering. Remembering how her mother had eaten that pastry. How she hadn't know it contained strawberries. She gone into anaphylactic shock before her eyes, on the ground struggling to breathe. Chloé hadn't understood what was happening at the moment, she was only five. She had the sense to call someone but by that time it was too late. No EpiPen could have helped her mother.

She knew she couldn't blame herself, and she didn't. She was only five, and her mother had been careless with her allergy. That didn't stop the pain and grief that came with seeing her mother lying on the ground in her beautiful white sundress, blonde hair fanned out and face red and bloated. It was awful. 

Chloé wiped away the tears and stood up. Nathanaël hadn't died though. He was fine. Sure he would probably feel terrible for a while but she was sure he'd recuperate. With a sigh she turned on the lights and grimaced as she saw her hair in the mirror. She shook her head and grabbed her brush determinedly.

One hour later she was perfectly flawless. She smiled to herself, grabbed her purse, and walked out.

____

Nathanaël had been in the hospital for three days now and he was going mad. His throat burned terribly, an after effect from the allergic reaction. An IV was stuck into his drawing arm and he had a feeling that taking it out would probably get him in trouble. With a sigh he looked up to the ceiling of the ridiculously posh hospital. He was so bored. 

The door opened and he looked up. It was one of the nurses. 

"Miss Bourgeois is here to see you, do I let her in?" She asked. Nathanaël nodded, a bit confused. Why was Chloé here to see him? He didn't have long to ponder the question though, because soon after she walked it, looking as perfect as always. The only difference was the faint dark circles under her eyes that looked so out of place.

"You're Alive." She stated and Nathanaël blinked.

"Yes. Wonderful observation." He told her. 

"That's... Good I guess." She said awkwardly and realization dawned on him.

"You came to see if I was okay!" He exclaimed. Chloé flushed and refused to meet his gaze.

"W-what! No! Don't be ridiculous, why would I care?" She exclaimed with her arms crossed. Nathanaël grinned.

"You did though!" 

"Shut up!" She said. She turned around and walked to the door. "Well whatever. I'm leaving," she said and Nathanaël let the grin fall from his face.

"No, wait!" He called out. Chloé turned to look at him.

"What?"

"It's, well thank you," he said earnestly. "You saved my life the other day and you came to see if I was okay. Thanks"

"Whatever," she answered, a red flush creeping on her face again. "Just don't be an idiot and forget your EpiPens next time. I highly doubt Marinette would want to go out with a corpse"

Nathanaël grinned. Hanging out with Chloé was definitely strange, but it wasn't that bad. He could get used to it.


	6. Longing Friendship

Nathanaël had a big problem. In fact it was a huge problem. He sighed in frustration as he glared at the physics equations that littered the blackboard. Not that the math was a problem. He would have preferred to do several thousand of these problems than have to deal with his current problems.

It had started this morning when he woke up, late for school. 

Chloé as usual kept him updated with messages everyday about their plans for the day, or their plots. This has been going on for about two months. The problem was that he had gotten too used to it.

He had gotten used to Chloé's company.

Nathanaël let his head bang against the table. This was awful. 

The bell rang and he slowly got up, throwing his books into his bag and pushing his chair in. Chloé had surprisingly not sent him anything and she didn't answer his messages. That's when he had realized his problem.

It generally wouldn't be such a problem for someone except it was Chloé Bourgeois he was dealing with. Chloé, the person who would throw him away without a second thought, once he wasn't needed anymore. They had only started talking because of her whole plot to get Adrien all for herself. She'd probably end up ignoring him once the whole thing was over and that thought depressed him more than it should have.

"Hey Nath!" Marinette called out and he smiled at her. 

"Hey Mari," he said with a wave. These past few months he had actually become pretty good friends with her, though Chloé hadn't actually managed much with Adrien. Nathanaël considered it a good thing because their 'friendship' if he could call it that, would be drawn out for a bit longer. He sighed. Was he really that friendless?

"Hey want to have lunch with me?" She asked. "Alya's sick today and Adrien has a modeling gig," she explained. "Chloé didn't come in today either did she?"

"Surprisingly enough," Nathanaël said as they walked out of the classroom.

"Hmm I wonder what it is this time?" She wondered.

"Why?" Nathanaël asked. "Chloé's been absent before?" 

"Oh yeah, that time you were in the hospital because of your allergic reaction. She skipped for like three days."

"Strange," He said. "Chloé really likes her perfect attendance. Not that it's perfect anymore," he pointed out. Marinette laughed.

"Yeah."

The rest of the lunch hour was spent with easy banter with Marinette, though he couldn't help but get distracted every once in a while. Eventually classes started back up and he realized that he Marinette. He sighed.

The rest of day passed in a hazy blur. Nathanaël spent more time wondering about Chloé than doing any class work. Not that he generally did much anyways. By the end of the day he had pretty much resigned himself to doing anything. As he wearily shuffled out of the classroom the teacher called him.

"Yes?" He asked, hoping he hadn't gotten in trouble. 

"I noticed you've become friends with Chloé so I wanted to ask you a favor," she said. Nathanaël nodded.

"Can you take her this?" She asked handing him a thick folder of papers. "It's today's school work."

"I will," he said and suddenly he was happy for an excuse to go see her. Then he berated himself for being happy.

"Thank you," the teacher said and Nathanaël walked out of the class with a little more pep than before.

_________

Chloé was completely bored out of her mind. This morning she had woken up feeling like she was dying. She sniffled and grabbed another tissue from the box on her lap. She hated getting the flu. She hated the flu in general.

She groaned and threw herself back to look at the ceiling. This whole day spent in solitary had made her see and contemplate a lot. Like the fact that she had become ridiculously dependent on Nathanaël's company.

Ever since Sabrina's betrayal, she had been alone. Even Adrien had begun to spend less time with her. It had been really depressing. Now the depressing part was loosing Nathanaël. She knew that as soon as this whole thing was done he'd leave. He had nothing keeping him with her and he probably hated her.

Chloé blinked away the tears and blamed the burning of her eyes to the fact that she was ill. With a sigh she buried her face into her pillow. She wished she was well enough to at least use her phone, but the glaringly bright screen just made her eyes hurt and her head ache. She didn't feel like sleeping either.

Suddenly there was a knock at her door and Chloé quickly sat up, wincing at the pain that came from the action. Her muscle aches terribly.

"Yes?" She asked, her voice sore and raw.

"Miss Chloé, there is a classmate here to see you," her butler said and Chloé frowned.

"Who?" She asked.

"The boy with the red hair, Nathanaël." Chloé couldn't help the grin that spread on her face. She quickly composed herself.

"Let him up," she said with as much authority she could muster at the moment. Five seconds later she started sneezing.

A few minutes later another, more hesitant knock came.

"Come in!" She said. Nathanaël walked in, trying to see in the darkness. Chloé rolled her eyes and turned on the lamp besides her bed. 

"You look awful," Nathanaël said after a few minutes of observation. Chloé frowned.

"Yeah, whatever. What are you doing here?" She asked bluntly. Had she been looking at him, she would've noticed the look of hurt flash through his face.

"The teacher asked me to bring you your work," he said. His tone had changed. 

"Ugh, homework!" She groaned. "Just leave it on my desk over there," she said with a wave of her hand. Nathanaël complied and then headed to the door.

"Hey where are you going?" She called out. 

"Uhm... Home?" He said though it came out more like a question.

"You can't be seriously leaving me here all by myself when I'm sick! How rude!"

"God Chloé, didn't know you liked me that much," he said sarcastically, and Chloé was glad for the fact the flush creeping up her face was due to her illness.

This was the first time Chloé fleetingly wondered if perhaps she felt more than just a longing of friendship from Nathanaël.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I took a long time to update >_


	7. (Not) Date

Nathanaël had been stealing his brothers old sketch books to use as reference when his phone received a text. Deciding to answer it in a few minutes, he kept flipping through the old leather bound sketch books, laughing at the occasional fail marked by a red X in crayon. It wasn't really the drawing that was bad. After all, Leo had always been a very talented artist. 

"Ugh, I should burn those." Speak of the devil...

"These are good, you just have ridiculously high standards," Nathanaël said, adding another sketch book to the pile. Another notification pinged. 

"Excuse you, that is trash. Stop stealing them." In all honesty if one were to compare these sketches with some Leo's recent work, there would be a tremendous difference. He looked to the painting his brother was working on and sighed. Yup, he'd never be on that level or talent.

Another message.

"Oi, could you answer that? Or at least silence it?" Leo asked, annoyed at the constant ringing of his phone. Nathanaël was starting to get a bit irked as well. He sighed as another notification pinged. Leo glared at him and Nathanaël got up, taking several notebooks with him to his room. Leaving them on his desk, he threw himself onto his bed and pulled out his phone. He was a bit surprised to see that it had been Chloé to message him on a weekend.

Chloé: Hey Nath.

Chloé: I'm bored, hang out with me.

Chloé: Hello!

Chloé: Are you ignoring me?

Chloé: NATHANAËL TORRINGTON!

Nathanaël sighed. Though a bit confused as to why Chloé was messaging him on a Saturday, he picked up his phone and answered.

Nathanaël: I'm here.

Chloé: About time! What took you so long?!

Nathanaël: I was busy.

Chloé: ugh. Whatever, I'm bored, hang out with me.

Now this request did weird Nathanaël out. He didn't see why Chloé was actively seeking him out and wondered if it was some sort of prank. 

Nathanaël: where?

He reluctantly asked. Not a second went by when he got another notification.

Chloé: The Mall. Hurry up, I'll meet you there in an hour.

Nathanaël sighed. He was still skeptical but he honestly had nothing better to do. He got up and walked over to Leo's room.

"Hey," he said, peering inside. The blonde looked up from a piled of pencils.

"What?" 

"You think you could drop me off at the Mall? I have to meet a friend," he said. Leo thought about it for a few minutes before shrugging.

"Why not?" He said. Nathanaël thanked him a me left to change. Five minutes later they were sitting in the car.

"So this friend of yours..." Leo said, glancing over at him with a smirk. Nathanaël groaned.

"So who are you meeting?" He asked. 

"Chloé," he mumbled hoping his brother would shut up. He didn't.

"Hmm.. If I didn't know better, I'd say you like Chloé way more than Marinette." He said with a smirk. Nathanaël resisted the urge to jump out the car.

"I don't!" Except his very red face was a giveaway. 

"Aww C'mom Nath! Nowadays everything is Chloé, Chloé, Chloé. It's amusing really." Leo teased. Nathanaël sent a halfhearted glare towards his brother and sighed.

"Not that it even matters if I did," Nathanaël said. "Chloé is still like super hung up on Adrien."

"So you guys are still doing that whole matchmaking thing huh?"

"Yeah I guess. I mean I'm glad I got to be friends with Marinette and stuff but I guess I'm over my crush? Not to mention she's also head over heels for Adrien. God, what's with that guy?"

"What can I say. Chicks love the blondes," Leo said. Nathanaël rolled his eyes.

"You do realize your last girlfriend tried to drown you?"

"Hey! She didn't know I couldn't swim!"

"She purposely threw you into the river," Nathanaël deadpanned. 

"...okay so she might have tried to kill me. That's not the point. The point is you should probably due something about your crush regardless of who you're pinning on."

"There's really not much to do. She'll reject me and then ignore me. That's all there is to it," he said with a sigh. 

"If you say so," Leo answered, coming to a stop. "Here we are."

"Thanks"

"Whatever"

Nathanaël got out of the car and Leo sped away, leaving him to look for Chloé. He spotted her inside the mall by the front, sitting on one of the benches. Unlike her usual clothing, she was actually wearing a pink sundress. She looked somewhat impatient. 

He walked over to the entrance and waved at her.

"Hey Chloé!" He said and she looked over. Her eyes lit up with what Nathanaël could of sworn was happiness, but then again it could have been wishful thinking.

"About time," she grumbled. "C'mom lets go, I'm hungry." Nathanaël shook his head at her demanding tone but grinned. Yeah okay, so maybe he might be falling for Chloé, maybe it was the biggest mistake he had ever made. He couldn't find himself to care.

_________

When Chloé had sent the text, she had thought he'd say no, that he was busy. When he didn't even bother with an answer though, she got annoyed.

So she sent him another one.

And another one.

And another one. 

And so on until he answered. Much to Chloé's delight he actually agreed. She shot up from her bed giddily and swung open her closest looking for something nice to wear. In the middle of deciding between shoes she suddenly halted and dropped them.

What did she care if he like the way she looked. It wasn't like his opinion mattered anyways! Regardless she still chose something a bit different. A cute pink sundress she had lying around.

Finally satisfied, she had he driver drop her off at the mall where she had to wait for about half an hour.

By then, she was pretty impatient and had to wonder whether Nathanaël was just making fun of her, when he called her name. She fought the urge to grin, and act indifferent. Still, she couldn't help feeling happy and relived that she hadn't been stood up.

Don't think that Chloé this isn't a date, she thought to herself. 

The ended up making it to the food court and buying a few burgers. Then they discussed what to do.

"So why are we here?" Nathanaël asked, dipping a fry into his vanilla ice cream.

"Well I mean, I was bored and stuff," she said, refusing to admit that she had just wanted to hang out with him. 

"Just wanted to check out that Ladybug store they opened up," she answered.

"Cool," Nathanaël said. "I kinda wanna go to the art store, if you don't mind."

Chloé nodded. "Sure, why not."

So as the got up to hang out, Chloé was forced to admit something. She was starting to like Nathanaël way more than she had ever liked Adrien.

If only she had realized sooner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, feelings! So yeah, enjoy this chappy cause the drama and action and stuff starts from now on. And maybe a bit of angst.
> 
> Love you all :3
> 
> Lorella Moon


	8. Troubles of the mind

Marinette leaped down onto a building, Chat Noir close behind. She suppressed a yawn and tried to focus on their patrol. Nothing usually happened at this hour of night, but it was best not to take any risks.

"Wait for me My Lady!" Chat said and a Marinette stopped, realizing she had indeed been going a bit too fast.

"Sorry," she apologized. 

"Everything okay?" He asked her. "You've been a bit distracted today." 

"I'm fine. Just a bit tired with school and what not," she answered, not giving away too much. She still believed strongly in keeping their identities a secret.

"You could home and rest," he offered. Marinette shook her head. 

"That's okay kitty, I'll be fine."

"If you say so," he answered. The continued in silence for a while before Marinette spoke up again.

"Hey Chat, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?" He asked. She stopped moving and sat down at the edge of the building. Chat followed suit and sat down besides her. He looked concerned. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's about a friend actually." She said.

"Well I'm all ears open," he said, and Marinette gave him a grateful smile. She really didn't know what she'd do without such an amazing partner and friend.

"Well I'm concerned about this friend. He's been hanging out with this girl lately, but she's known to be a really awful person. I don't want him getting hurt."

"Have you talked to your friend about this?" He asked. Marinette shook her head. 

"Maybe you should. I mean this girl might be a good friend for him despite how she is. You shouldn't assume," he answered. Marinette thought about it. Chloé didn't treat Nathanaël like she had Sabrina. And Nathanaël actually seemed happy when he hung out with the blonde. 

"Your right-" she began to say, but was cut out by the sound of a shout. She and Chat looked at one another and nodded.

"Let's go!" She said. They quickly made their way to the source of the disturbance, only to find an Akuma.

"Seriously?" Chat asked. "At this hour?"

"No use complaining!" Marinette said getting ready to fight. 

Vigilante was an Akuma who didn't think the police or the heroes did a proper job taking care of the people so they had take matters into their own hands. She was good, and they had a hard time fighting her. Still they managed. 

"Nathanaël watch out!" Chat suddenly shouted from her side and Marinette turned. Sure enough, one of the explosive vigilante hand thrown landed by the building where her friend had been walking and she saw in horror as her friend was covered in Debris. 

_______  
Chloé gently tapped her pen against her paper, creating unwanted lines. While she should have been copying down the notes, she decided she was too distracted to do so. Rose would probably give them to her. She was nice enough and it's not like Chloé ever asked her for notes unless she was absent. She had done her best to prove herself as independent after Sabrina. She sighed and pushed away all thoughts of Sabrina away. She had more pressing thoughts. The most important one, where the hell was Nathanaël?

The boy had refused to answer her messages this morning and he hadn't shown up at school. Her first thought was that he had gotten sick, but Nathanaël would have texted by now. He always did. Maybe he had overslept? She sighed and looked over to Marinette.

Her once rival looked awful. Her hair was completely messed up, as if she hadn't really bothered with it that morning. She had a bandaid on her cheek, and there were dark circles under her eyes. Not to mention the dark haired girl was not in anyway paying attention to the class. Chloé looked away and wondered when she had stopped considering Marinette a rival. 

It wasn't like she liked her or anything, after all the tension between them went way back to before Adrien had even come into the picture. Still that strong rivalry she had felt for her had turned into Apathy. Nathanaël himself had admitted the other day that Marinette was just a friend to him, and she was very close to telling that they should just give up the whole idea she had come up with. It was pretty stupid and immature anyways. Not to mention she had realized all she would ever be to Adrien was a friend and a sister. She found she didn't particularly mind so much.

The bell rang, and Chloé stood up and walked up to Marinette. 

"Hey you," she said and Marinette looked up.

"What is it?" She asked without her usual snap. Chloé frowned.

"You're friend with Nathanaël, you wouldn't happen to know where he is?" She asked. Suddenly it seemed as if she were avoiding her gaze.

"He...he had an accident." She finally answered. Chloé's eyes widened.

"What? If he okay!" She answered erratically before suddenly realizing that people had turned to stare.

"I mean, what happened," she asked, more composed. Chloé doubted she was fooling Marinette.

"Akuma attack, he got caught in the middle of it," she answered. "He's at the public hospital."

Marinette had barely finished speaking when Chloé turned for the door. She tried to ignore the tightness in her chest.  
_____

Nathanaël groggily opened his eyes groaning as he felt a dull pain coming from his head. His body ached and stung.

"Nath!" It was Leo. What was he doing here? Where was he?

"Leo?"

"Oh thank god!" The blonde exclaimed making Nathanaël even more confused. What was going on? He asked Leo.

"Don't you remember?" Nathanaël shook his head.

"You got caught in the middle of an Akuma attack," Leo explained. Akuma attack? He was about to asked another question but Leo started talking again, much to Nathanaël's annoyance.

"What were you even doing out in the middle of the night?" Wait what? Nathanaël felt very confused.

"I wasn't out in the middle of the night!" He said.

"What do you mean you weren't out in the middle of the night?" Leo answered. "You were clearly picked up from the street after the whole Akuma fiasco!"

"I wasn't!" Nathanaël insisted. "And anyways why do you care? Where's mom and dad?" He was getting really tired of Leo at the moment.

"What do you mean why do I care? What has gotten into you Nath?" Leo shouted. Nathanaël frowned.

"What do you mean what's gotten into me what's-" suddenly the door opened, revealing a nurse.

"You, uhm have a guest," she said and moved off to the side, revealing someone he hadn't been expecting to see. 

"Chloé what are you doing here?" He asked, somewhat startled.

"What do you mean?" The blonde asked. "You were stupid enough to get hurt so I might as well see how you are and all," she said rolling her eyes?

"I'm really not in the mood for any of your tricks," he answered and Chloé frowned.

"Tricks, what are you talking about?" She asked. Nathanaël could not believe he had such bad luck right now. He sighed exasperatedly.

"We have never ever talked Chloé, and now you just appear out of the blue and I sit you're here to see me? And you too Leo! You left the house and you haven't bothered to come back and your suddenly here acting all concerned.

Chloé and Leo both had a look on their faces akin to hurt.

"You mean you don't remember," Chloé asked, her voice soft. Nathanaël felt a fleeting emotion that he couldn't name come up for few seconds. Suddenly Leo looked at him with a worried expression.

"Nath, what is the last thing you remember?" He asked. Nathanaël frowned.

"What are you-"

"Just answer the question!"

"Uhm well, me, Hannah, mom, and dad were celebrating the fact that she got accepted to the school she wanted to go to. Why does that matter."

Leo had a grave express. And Chloé looked like she was about to cry.

"Nath, that was two years ago." Leo said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the plot thickens!


	9. Admitting

Nathanaël tossed and turned in what was apparently his bed. 

Amnesia.

The word echoed through his head. How could he have amnesia? How could he be missing two years from his life? He had so many questions and no one to answer. 

Apparently he couldn't ask his parents because he wasn't on the best terms with them from the looks of it. Leo, he couldn't believe that they actually got along. He had actually been ignoring the blonde this past week. Then there was Chloé. He had no idea what had gone on with Chloé.

The girl had insisted they were friends, but Nathanaël simply couldn't see himself being friends with her. She was mean and manipulative and just so Chloé. He sighed. This was way too complicated.

He groaned and stood up, running a hand through his hair. His side throbbed and he lightly ran his fingers over the thick, white bandages. 

Whatever that akuma thing had been, it had sure done a number on him. A concussion, a sprained ankle, several bruised ribs, and a nasty gash on his side. And as a side affect, his apparent amnesia. The sprained ankle wasn't that serious. They had given him a brace he could take off next week. While he was supposed to use crutches, he generally walked around the house without them. As long as it didn't hurt, he figured it was okay. His ribs had been wrapped tightly, and even breathing hurt. The doctors had told him he was lucky they hadn't broken and punctured a lung. As for the gash, he had stitches that needed to be replaced in about two weeks.

To be honest, the pain was nearly unbearable most of the time, but he was always reluctant to take the pain meds. They made him completely drowsy and messed with his sleep, which was probably why he was awake at three in the morning. 

Nathanaël slowly walked towards his door, not risking his ankle or ribs. He opened it, a bit surprised to see light coming from the living room and Leo's door ajar. He hadn't made that much noise had he?

He carefully padded towards the kitchen. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with this Leo, the one who worried about him and seemed to care. He just couldn't help but compare him to the one Nathanaël remembered. Cold and mean. Always barking out harsh words. 

"You okay Nath?" Dammit.

"Yeah," he said, grabbing a glass a filling it up with water. "What are you doing up?" He asked Leo.

"I normally stay up editing or working on something. Might as well make the most of my insomnia. How are you feeling?" 

"Okay," he answered, taking his glass of water.

"You shouldn't be walking around without your crutches though," Leo chastised. Nath bit back the snarky remark if only because he didn't like seeing the hurt on Leo's face. Did they really get along that well?

"Hurts my ribs," he answered. 

"Correction, you shouldn't be walking at all. Nath, you are more accident prone than anyone I've ever met."

"Whatever," he mumbled and continued his slow and painful journey back to his room.

"Oh Nath!" Leo called out. Nathanaël turned around. "That friend of yours Marinette called earlier, said she wanted to come over. What should I tell her?"

Marinette? As in his crush? 

"Y-yeah...she can come," he said stuttering slightly. Leo rolled his eyes.

"Hey just a heads up, you were already over your crush on her before the accident," he said.

"I was?"

"Yup. Hey listen Nath. I know this is confusing as hell for you, but maybe you should stop being in so much denial."

"Yes because waking up to realize you are missing two years of your life isn't reason for denial."

"You are completely pessimistic. You barely do anything. What if your memories don't come back Nath? You can't keep doing this. Talk to Marinette. Ask her about things. Talk to me, talk to Chloé. You have to face reality!" Nathanaël glared at Leo and just turned around, walking back to his room as fast as he could. Face reality.

He didn't want to know any more. He didn't want to know anything about this strange parallel place he had woken up to. He sighed as he climbed back into bed. He really couldn't deal with this.

___________

Chloé had to admit, texting Adrien and two in the morning and expecting an answer was stupid. Knowing this, she had been surprised when he had answered.

[Chloé: Hey can I come over?]

[Adrien: Sure I guess? Are you okay?]

[Chloé: yeah, just need to talk] 

And with that she snuck out of the house and into Adrien's. It wasn't that difficult really. They had been doing it since they were children. She knocked on Adrien's door, and almost immediately it opened. 

"What are you doing up and this hour?" Was the first thing she asked. Though the lights were turned off, the lamps gave the room a warm sort of glow. Adrien's hair wasn't tousled at all, and though he was in his pajamas they weren't wrinkled at all.

"Eh.. Stuff." He said, avoiding the question. Chloé frowned. "Anyways, are you okay?" He asked. Chloé sighed and collapsed onto the couch in his room.

"The guy I accidentally fell for ended up with amnesia and now hates me again," she said, Chloé felt a certain relief at saying this words. She wasn't denying it anymore and it felt as if a burden had been lifted. Still, she had a feeling it was still too late.

"So you really did fall for Nathanaël," Adrien said softly. Chloé nodded. 

"Is this why you started hanging out with him?" He asked. Chloé shook her head, and grimaced as she remembered the circumstances behind their talking.

"No, I'm pretty sure when I started talking to him the very idea disgusted me." She admitted. Adrien sat down next to her. 

"So why did you talk to him?" Great, a question she didn't want him to ask. She hesitated for a moment. The she sighed and told him everything. Absolutely everything.


	10. Second Chance

Though Nathanaël didn't expect it, Marinette came to see him the next the day. To be honest it was still a bit difficult to grasp, the fact that they were apparently good friends. From what he remembered, he didn't even have the guts to approach her. 

"Nathanaël!" She exclaimed as she walked into the room. She looked different than he remembered. She was taller, her face more grown up. Her hair had also changed. Where it had once been pulled into a cute little bun, it was now two pigtails. "How are you doing?" she asked as she walked over, pulling out and sitting on his desk chair. It was as if she'd been here before.

"I'm fine, I guess. Thanks for asking Mari." He said before doing a double take. Mari? since when did he call her Mari. 

"I'm glad! I was so worried when I heard about your accident. We all were. Though I don't think anyone could have been more worried than Leo and Chloé," She added as an afterthought. "Those two practically moved into the hospital during your coma."

He tensed. Chloé. Marinette noticed this.

"Adrien told me you were having a hard time accepting that Chloé was your friend." It was a statement. 

"Yeah, I guess. Who is Adrien though?" He asked. Marinette's face fell a bit.

"Ah, yeah I guess you don't remember him. He's Adrien Agreste, Gabriel Agreste's son."

"The fashion designer?"

"Yeah. He started attending school with us this year. He and Chloé are childhood friends," She explained. Nathanaël raised an eyebrow.

"That really doesn't give me a good first impression of him."

"Oh no!" Marinette said, waving her hands. "Adrien is actually the opposite of Chloé. Not that I want to say she's all that bad. I mean it's true that she can be egotistical and selfish. Sometimes even a little mean, but with you that's different. Ever since you two started hanging out she's changed. It isn't major or anything, but she has definitely mellowed out."

Nathanaël looked away. 

"I just don't understand. Why did I become friends with her? How?" He let his head drop into his hands. "I'm just so confused!"

Marinette patted his back in a comforting manner. He could see a small smile adorning her face. 

"I know you are. I can't even begin to imagine how you might feel. Still, I think you need to sort it out. Talk to people, get your facts straight. It's probably going to be a long and complicated process but I know you can do it. You aren't alone Nath. You have people to help you."

"Then can you tell me? We... we're friends, right? I still really can't understand that or what happened."

Marinette smiled.

"Of course I can. I mean we kinda just started talking and stuff. I think it was right before you and Chloé became friends. You were starting to come out of your little shell and everything. Actually, Chloé actually became a bit more friendly, or tolerable at the least." 

"How did I even become friends with her?" he asked her. It was one of his biggest questions. He just couldn't imagine it.

"That's probably a conversation you should have with her."

The worst part was, Nathanaël thought, was that he already knew that was going to be the answer.

__________

"So... this plan of yours. It was to keep me and Marinette apart?"

"Uhm kinda," Chloé said, hugging her knees to her chest. They had stayed up all night while she told her story. She only hoped this didn't ruin her friendship with Adrien.

"But why?" he asked.

"Because... I didn't want to lose you." She answered. "I've been your only friend for most of your life, and I was scared you wouldn't need me anymore," she answered. Adrien sighed and brought her into a hug.

"Chlo, that won't happen. You're like my sister." 

"Thanks...and I really am sorry," She said. They stayed like that until her phone rang. She picked it up, surprised to see a text from Nathanaël.

[Can we talk?] 

"Is something wrong?" Adrien asked once he saw the look on her face.

"N-no," Chloé said, staring at her phone. "He...he wants to talk to me." She didn't know whether to feel happy or scared. Her hand was trembling. Adrien sighed and gave her a hug.

"Go. You need to talk to him Chloé." She nodded.

Chloé managed to leave Adrien's house, get changed and get to Nathanaël's in record speed. By the time she knocked on the door, she was out of breath and completely frazzled. 

"Chloé, you're here!" Leo greeted her. He looked extremely tired, the dark circles under his eyes even more pronounced than usual. 

"Yeah, he texted me. Said he wanted to talk to me," she answered. She honestly felt as tired as he looked. 

"That's good... I think."

"Not helping Leo," She snapped and walked into the apartment.

"Sorry. Go ahead, he's in his room." Chloé nodded and walked down the hallway with confidence she didn't feel. She paused by the door, wondering whether she should knock or not. In those few seconds of hesitation, she made a very important decision. As their friendship grew, Nathanaël stopped caring if she barged in or not. She wasn't going to become some nice, bumbling fool just to be his friends. The best part of their friendship was that Nathanaël had started accepting her just as she was. If he couldn't be like that again, was it worth it? She took a deep breath and pushed the door open. 

"Ever hear of knocking?" An annoyed ginger grumbled from the bed. Chloé shrugged.

"You're the one who asked me here weren't you?" she answered nonchalantly. "Don't complain and get to the point."

Nathanaël frowned. Chloé let her usual scowl soften.

"Listen. I don't know why you called me here. Ever since you woke up you've refused to see me, and we might have been friends, but I still have my pride. I'm really not in the mood to endure any insults from you," She said crossing her arms. She felt proud of herself. Despite the fact that she felt like crying, she managed to keep a straight face. Nathanaël sighed. 

"It's nothing like that. I'm not like you," Chloé frowned. "Well at least not like you I remember," he was quick to add. She was momentarily reminded of the Nathanaël she had grown to love.

"Well then?" she asked, raising a brow. Nathanaël stared at the wall for a few seconds.

"I want to know everything." he finally said.

"Huh?" Admittedly a less than intelligent response, but she was honestly surprised.

"I want to know how this so called friendship came to be, why I stuck around." he paused for a moment as if choosing his words carefully. "I want to know why I somehow felt happy when you came here." Chloé was pleasantly surprised.

"First of all, I'd actually like to ask you why you stuck around if you ever remember because I have no idea,” she said, as she sat down beside him. Nathanaël looked conflicted between moving over or just relaxing there. “Second of all, this story- well at least the beginning - probably won't give you an outstanding view of me.”

“Well I’m willing to listen and to try to understand,” Nathanaël said almost instantly. Chloe nearly smiled. Perhaps things would work out. 

“Well, it started with me...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! Just the epilogue left!


	11. Finale

"They are the worlds most annoying people," Chloé complained as they stared out the window. Down below them Marinette e and Adrien were both having lunch, a set up Alya and Nino had done as an effort to get those two together. At the rate those to were going though, Nathanaël was sure they'd have to be locked in the closet for anything to happen.

Nathanaël shrugged. "They'll get together eventually. Alya has made it her personal mission." He assured her. Chloé rolled her eyes and forcibly stabbed her cheesecake with her fork.

"Well she better do it fast! It's ridiculous frustrating to watch those two dance around each other," she mumbled. Nathanaël laughed and petted her hair, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Chloé would never admit it but she was definitely nicer to Marinette now. They weren't friends; that probably would never happen, but they were way more civil now. Having friends in common certainly helped. They barely all hung out together but the mutual unspoken truce was still there.

"So any plans for today?" He asked his girlfriend, distracting her from the obliviously shy couple down below. Chloé shrugged.

"Other than escaping school as fast as I can, not really." 

"You're still hung up on avoiding Sabrina?" Nathanaël asked. It was the interschool festival and Sabrina was among the many that would come to set up after school. So far Chloé had been successful in avoiding her, but they were bound to meet soon enough. 

"I just really don't want to see her," Chloé said, angrily stabbing her cake again. Nathanaël gently coaxed the fork out of her hand. It seemed that the feeling of betrayal still remained. Not that Nathanaël wanted to see them cross paths. 

Chloé might have mean and manipulative, and maybe once in a while she'd be particularly cruel in the past, but that was nothing to how Sabrina had turned out. Chloé might have been a verbal bully but Sabrina didn't stop there. In the time she had been here, she had slammed a girl against the lockers, dropped a heavy textbook on someone's head, and tripped people countless times. Nathanaël wondered how she managed to turn like this. 

"Well what about you stop murdering your cheesecake, and we can go to the botanical gardens by my house?" He offered. Chloé smiled. 

"Sure," she said, taking back the fork. Nathanaël kissed her forehead and smiled.

It had been two years since his accident. It was difficult at first. He was untrusting of Chloé, he didn't know what to think. He never did recover his lost memories, but as time passed he could see why he had fallen for Chloé. He had fallen in love with her all over again, and he couldn't ever bring himself to regret it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read this story! I had so much fun writing this and I'm kind of sad to see it end. This final chapter is pretty short but it's kind of like a small epilogue just to tie up loose ends. 
> 
> If you're Mystic Messenger or Yuri on Ice fans, be sure to check out my other fics!
> 
> <3

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like Chloé is such a fun and easy character to write.
> 
> Anyways thanks for reading and I hope you like it. To any one who wants to check out my tumblr, [fif-the-writer](http://fif-the-writer.tumblr.com/) here you go
> 
> Lots of Love, LM


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